The Fellowship Meets Reality
by Anath Tsurugi
Summary: What happens when Gandalf leads the Fellowship down the wrong path in Moria?
1. The Door is Shut

(A/N) Hey everybody! First of all I bow before all of you for taking the time to read this. But I must warn you, random insanity runs rampant in this fic. Where does the fellowship end up when Gandalf leads them on the wrong path in Moria? Well, I'm not gonna tell ya. Just read the fic if you wish to know. I should also tell you that I prefer to use movie verse when writing lotr fanfiction. It makes my life easier at the moment. I also realize that Gandalf would never actually pick the wrong way, but this is a "what-if" story.

Disclaimer: If I really need to put anything here for you people to understand it, then you make me sad. So be it.

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The Fellowship Meets Reality

Chapter 1: The Door is Shut

"It's that way." Gandalf said suddenly, looking up from his conversation with Frodo.

"He's remembered." Merry said excitedly as the other seven members of the fellowship got to their feet to follow Gandalf's lead once more.

"No. But the air doesn't smell so foul down here." Gandalf replied as he walked towards the center pathway. "If in doubt Meriadoc, always follow your nose."

The fellowship had been on the way to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Now they were passing through the Mines of Moria beneath the mountain, Caradhras.

They had come to a great arch which split into three different passage ways. The other eight members of the fellowship had been waiting for hours for Gandalf to decide on which was the best passage to follow. The passage on the right led upwards and the one to the left led downwards. But the one in the middle simply led straight ahead. This was the one that Gandalf had chosen.

For a long while, the fellowship walked along in silence. Gandalf in the lead with Gimli and Frodo behind him. Behind them came Sam, Legolas, and Boromir. Aragorn made up the end of the line, making sure that Merry and Pippin kept up.

Suddenly Gandalf came to a halt at the brink of a black, bottomless pit.

"All right, maybe it isn't this way. Maybe we should try the right-hand path." Gandalf said as he began to turn around.

But Pippin, who was lagging behind, didn't realize that the others had stopped. So he walked right smack into Merry. Merry tumbled over backwards and tripped Aragorn. This in turn, caused a domino effect. Until Gandalf, Gimli, Frodo, and Sam were all knocked over the edge of the chasm.

Out of the darkness, the remaining members of the fellowship heard Pippin's voice.

"Was that my fault?"

"Yes, Pip, it was." Merry said with an exasperated sigh.

"What are we to do now? The ring bearer is lost. Right along with our guide." Boromir said.

"There is nothing for it but to go back." Aragorn said sadly.

"What! We can't go back! We have to save them!" Pippin shouted.

"This may come as a surprise to you Pippin, but we can't do them much good if we jump after them. We'd all end up dead." Merry said.

Just as they were all about to turn and head back to the three pathways, Boromir lost his footing and slipped over the edge. On his way down he grabbed hold of Aragorn's arm to break his fall. As Aragorn was dragged over the edge, he grabbed hold of Legolas and all three of them went tumbling into the abyss, leaving behind the two hobbits.

"Well, there are two options. Turn around and face the darkness and orcs of Moria. Or we could follow the others into the pit, and most likely to death." Merry said.

"I think I'll go with the second option." Pippin said brightly as he leapt into the pit.

"Hey, wait up!" Merry called after the younger hobbit. Then he too, jumped.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" nine voices echoed as one.

XxX

The door is still shut

But the time draws near

Two worlds will collide

But have no fear.

The way will open

You are the one

Who will open the door

Through which the light shall run

XxX

Atalanta awoke with a start. She looked around and began to calm down when she realized that she was in her own bedroom.

That was a strange dream.

Atalanta slowly climbed out of bed and began to dress herself. She was up earlier than usual on a Saturday morning, but this morning was different. It was the first day of summer vacation and Atalanta had just passed her driver's test.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't get a chance to drive until her parents got back from their vacation in Hawaii. For now, she was stuck in Colorado babysitting her little brother and sister, Calypsa and Aaron.

Today Atalanta was just going to hang around and work on her latest fan fiction. Later tonight she would be going out with a bunch of her friends.

As soon as she was dressed and had eaten some breakfast she scurried back up to her room. She popped the Fellowship of the Ring into her television set and set to work on her computer. Normally, Atalanta only wrote Animorphs and X-men fiction but her best friend, Mila, had recently gotten her into Lord of the Rings. She had only just finished reading the books and she now owned the first two movies. In fact, the reason for the outing with her friends was to see Return of the King.

And now, Atalanta was beginning work on her first LOTR fiction. After reading the books and learning a little bit of Middle-Earth history, she had decided to write some sort of take on the life of Frodo Gamgee, first son of Sam Gamgee. She wasn't exactly sure where she would take the story but she knew that she would have some sort of inspiration once she sat down to her computer.

While Atalanta wrote out the opening scene where Frodo was born, the movie rambled on. She had watched it many times and it was more background noise than anything else by now. She continued to write for the next hour, right up until the part where the fellowship entered the Mines of Moria. Then she pulled away from her computer to watch the small monologue that Gandalf gave to Frodo about Gollum and how Bilbo had pitied him. She always loved these dramatic, passionate speeches.

"It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." Frodo said vehemently when Gandalf explained Gollum's addiction to the Ring.

"Pity! It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them Frodo?" he asked the Hobbit in a reprimanding voice. "Do not be to eager to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over."

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Frodo said in a tearful voice.

"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that it given to you." Gandalf said in a grave voice.

"It's that way." Gandalf spoke up suddenly.

"He's remembered." Merry said excitedly as the rest of the fellowship rose to follow Gandalf down the passage.

"No. But the air doesn't smell so foul down here. If in doubt Meriadoc, always follow your nose." Gandalf said cheerfully.

It was then that Atalanta realized that they were going the wrong way. She had never really paid attention to this part of the movie but even she noticed when the film suddenly changed. Even she knew that the true pathway lay to the right. But now the fellowship was walking down the center path. She watched, open-mouthed, as the movie changed before her very eyes. Until Gandalf finally stopped at the brink of a gaping chasm.

"All right. Maybe it is not this way. Maybe we should try the right-hand path." Gandalf said as he began to turn around.

But at that moment, Pippin came running into Merry, who stumbled and tripped Aragorn in the narrow space. Eventually all nine of them ended up falling into the pit. Atalanta watched all of this in shock. Movies weren't supposed to just randomly change on you.

Suddenly the television began to spit smoke and sparks. Atalanta jumped up and tried to switch it off but nothing happened. It just smoked harder and the screen started glowing. Then the light filled the room and everything fell silent for a moment. When the light faded and the smoke cleared Atalanta just stood there, staring at the pile of arms and legs that greeted her sight.

"You fool of a Took! What mess have you gotten us into this time?"

"Look, I'm sorry, all right! How was I supposed to know that you all had stopped? I could barely see my own nose at the end of my face!"

"Don't start, Pippin! We're lucky to be alive right now."

"Does anyone happen to know where we are?"

"No! But if someone would kindly remove their large, hairy FOOT from my FACE, I would love to get up and find out!"

Suddenly one of the bodies managed to disentangle itself from the pile and stand up. Atalanta was staring right at Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood.

For a moment, he too, stood staring at her. But then he bowed.

"Good morrow, my lady. I am Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood. Do you happen to know where we are?"

Atalanta stared for a few more minutes, then...grabbed a pillow and promptly began attacking the Elf prince with it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! SEVEN DAYS! SEVEN DAYS! AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Hey, wouldn't you react that way after seeing the movie The Ring?

"Madam, contain yourself!" Legolas said, trying to get away from the insane human.

Finally Legolas managed to fit an arrow to his bow and aimed it directly at Atalanta's face.

"I'm sorry to do this, my lady, but I had to calm you down."

"And that's a real good way to do it." Atalanta said in a nervous whisper. "Um...now, what were you saying?"

"What is this place?" Legolas asked as he gazed around Atalanta's room.

"Earth...Colorado." Atalanta said slowly.

"Earth? Not Middle-Earth?"

"No, just plain, regular Earth."

"Another dimension? Another world?"

"I'm thinkin' so. If you guys are the real fellowship of the ring, that is."

"What do you mean by that? The REAL fellowship? Of course we are the real fellowship. But how do you know of such things if this really is another world?" he gazed at her suspiciously.

"Long story. It's..." she trailed off as she watched the other members of the fellowship climb to their feet.

"Oh...my...god." she whispered.

"ATALANTA! WHAT WAS THAT NOISE!" a voice came from downstairs.

"Oh, no! It's my little sister! I have to hide you guys!"

"Hide us from what, lady? We are willing to brave any danger." Boromir said as he drew his sword. Which was difficult with all ten of them crammed into Atalanta's bedroom.

"Not this danger. You have never faced a rabid fan girl. And that's exactly what my sister is." Atalanta replied as she hurried to lock the door.

"Let this sister come. I shall..." Gimli started to say as he held up his ax.

"Not now! No time to talk! Get in the closet!"

"What!" the Dwarf asked as if insulted.

"You heard me! Get in there!" she said as she shoved him into her walk in closet.

"Okay, you next." she said to Legolas.

Before he could protest she shoved him into the closet right along side of Gimli.

"Aragorn, Boromir. your turn."

"How do you know my..." Aragorn began to ask.

"LATER! In the closet! Now!"

Aragorn, frightened by the girl's attitude, obeyed. Boromir, however, hesitated.

"Why should..."

"Not now! Get your ass in the closet! If I get caught with the fellowship in my room, I'll be grounded for a year."

Boromir didn't even try to figure out what this meant. He finally decided that it was safe to enter the closet.

Gandalf didn't even put up an argument.

Atalanta shut the door behind him. Then she turned her attention to the Hobbits.

"We are out of room in the closet. Oooooookay, Hobbits, ummmm. The bed!"

"Excuse me!" Sam said, his voice coated with outrage.

"Get under the bed." she explained.

"Oh." Sam said, his face turning red with embarrassment as he tried to squeeze himself under the bed.

"Well, I see no point in arguing with the lady." Pippin said as he followed after Sam.

Frodo gave Atalanta a very intent stare before following Pippin. It was as if he was trying to discern whether or not he could trust her.

"Why should I? It can't be all that dangerous to stay out." Merry said with a glare.

Just then someone started pounding on the door.

"Atalanta! Open the door! What are you doing in there!"

"Oh yes it is. I insist you get under there, now."

"And if I refuse?" Merry challenged.

"Get...under...the bed." Atalanta said in a deadly whisper.

This seemed to finally convince Merry of his peril and he crawled under the bed. Atalanta quickly unlocked the door and sat back down at her computer as Calypsa entered the room.

"What was all that! How come you locked the door!" she asked angrily.

"What was all what? What are you talking about?" Atalanta asked in a very convincing voice.

But Caly new her too well.

"Who's in here?" she asked her sister suspiciously.

"Nobody." Atalanta said, trying to keep her attention on her computer and making it seem as if she didn't care.

"Then what's that?"

"What's what?" Atalanta asked nervously.

"That giant, hairy foot sticking out from under your bed?"

"Umm..."

But before she could come up with a reasonable answer Caly had grabbed hold of the foot and started to pull. The owner tried to yank his foot back but Caly was stubborn.

"Oh no you don't!" Caly shouted. Then with a mighty yank, Merry came flying out from under the bed.

"OW!" he cried, rubbing his nose. For when Caly had pulled him out she had accidentally rammed his nose into the bed frame.

For a few moments Caly sat there on the floor, staring at the Hobbit, then...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"Caly, calm down! It's just a Hobbit!" Atalanta tried to calm her sister.

"JUST A HOBBIT! JUST A HOBBIT! WHAT? DO HOBBITS JUST POP UP IN YOUR ROOM REGULARLY?" Caly shouted, clearly upset.

"All right, you guys. You've been caught. Come on out." Atalanta said in a resigned voice.

There came the sounds of a scuffle from behind the closet door as Gandalf tried to figure out how to open the door with such a foreign doorknob. But he finally managed to open the door. By this time all four Hobbits had come out from under the bed.

Caly watched in awe as the taller members of the fellowship poured out of the closet. Gandalf, Gimli, Boromir, Aragorn, and last of all, Legolas. At this, Caly completely lost it.

"Oh my god! It's ORLANDO BLOOM!" She shouted hysterically.

Atalanta had had all that she could take. She jumped up and clamped her hand over her sister's mouth.

"It's not Orlando Bloom. It's the actual Legolas. Now drop it!"

But the instant she removed her hand from Caly's mouth she began screaming again. So Atalanta covered her mouth again.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP! The neighbors might hear! Now listen to me very closely, Caly. You WILL be quiet. I'm gonna take my hand...away from your mouth...and you're gonna be quiet. Got that?"

Caly nodded her head and Atalanta removed her hand once more, and once more Caly started screaming.

"Hot Elf! HOT ELF!"

Then she shut up.

"You done?" Atalanta asked.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Ooooookay then, let me explain." Atalanta said in a casual voice, as if this sort of thing happened everyday. Then she proceeded to explain how the fellowship had popped out of her television set.

Caly listened to the whole story open-mouthed. When Atalanta had finished, Caly spoke.

"This is just too cliché. It's like every parody I've ever read has suddenly become reality. Isn't there some way to send them back? Except this one. I like him. The Elf can stay."

"Nope. If the others go back, he goes with them. Besides, I don't think they'll be going back anytime soon. My T.V. is busted and I really don't know exactly what happened. But we do have to get them out of here before mom and dad get back from Hawaii. Who knows what they'll do if they find the fellowship in the house."

"And we can't take them outside either. I don't even want to see how my friends would react if Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood suddenly popped up in our neighborhood." Caly commented as she cast another hungry glance at the Elven Prince.

"But they aren't actors." Atalanta started to say. "They're-"

"I know that. But the fact that they look like the actors is enough. Believe me." Caly said, glancing at Legolas again.

"Obviously." Atalanta said, looking at her sister with apprehension.

"Pardon me, miladies." Gandalf said, stepping between the two sisters. "I believe that if I could learn more about this world and how far we are from our own, I could find a way to get us back to Middle-Earth."

"And how long do you think that would take?" Atalanta asked him.

"I am not certain. I have never been faced with a situation such as this. It could very well take months to solve this riddle."

"Great, just great! What am I supposed to do with you guys until then?" Atalanta wondered out loud.

"They could just stay here." Caly suggested hopefully.

"Well, it's looking like that's all they can do." Atalanta replied.

"Oh yes! You can sleep in my room, Legolas!" Caly said excitedly.

"Forget it!" Atalanta said, annunciating every syllable.

Just then, she realized something.

"What are we going to tell Aaron? We can't just hide them from him." she said worriedly.

"No need to hide them from me. I can see them well enough." a voice said from the hallway.

Atalanta turned to look at her doorway and saw her twelve-year-old brother standing there.

"How much of that did you hear?" she asked him.

"All of it." he replied.

"And here I was under the unfortunate delusion that Americans had a right to privacy." Atalanta said sarcastically as she dragged her brother into the already over-crowded room and shut the door.

"Well, I hope you don't mind my saying so, but it's a little difficult to not notice these nine freaks standing in your bedroom when your door is wide open." he said as he threw her hands off of his shoulders.

"So what do you think?" Caly asked him.

"I think that since this seems to be the actual fellowship of the ring, that they could help me solve that new video game of mine. You know, The Two Towers role playing game. I vote they stay." Aaron said as he inspected each of the nine walkers.

Atalanta visibly shuddered. Caly just stared open-mouthed at her kid brother.

"Aaron, think about what you just said. The real fellowship has just popped up in my bedroom in a completely random case of fandom cliché and all you can think about is using them as a game guide. They probably don't even know what video games are!" Atalanta burst out.

"If I may ask, my lady, what is fandom cliché? Or video games for that matter?" Boromir asked her.

"Oh man, I need to think." Atalanta exhaled noisily as she flung open her bedroom door so she could get out into the hall and pace properly.

Boromir tried to follow her to see if she had even heard him.

"Excuse me-" he started.

"No, don't talk to me right now."

"But I-" he started to say as he struggled out after her.

"Don't even move!"

"But-"

"You're moving!"

"I was just-"

"uh-uh, uh-uh…just…stand there. Don't even breath!" she said irately as she pushed him back into the room with the others.

"What are we going to do about tonight?" Caly asked as she pushed her way out of the room to pace beside her sister.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"I could baby-sit them." Caly suggested.

"In your dreams!"

"Oh come on. Think about it. What choice do you have? You're friends are expecting you to go. We'll just order a pizza and introduce middle-Earth to some MTV. How bad could it be?"

"Bad!" Atalanta countered.

"You don't really want to stay home do you? Come on. I thought you said Kyle was going to be there tonight."

The mention of Kyle's name was all it took. Atalanta had had a crush on Kyle ever since her Freshman year. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to make her miss an outing with Kyle. No matter how small. Just one glance at her sister's face and Caly new that she had her trapped.

"Oh, all right, fine! But if anything, anything at all, happens while I'm at the movie, you two will wish you had never been born." Atalanta glared at her siblings. Then she stalked away towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Caly asked her.

"To order the pizza. Where else? Pepperoni, I think. Maybe some sausage." she muttered to herself as she made her way down the staircase.

"What is pizza?" Aragorn asked, clearly baffled.

"And movies and MTV? What are they?" Pippin asked.

"Oh, you poor, deprived children." Caly said as she herded the strange group of fairytale beings out of Atalanta's room. "Especially you, my little hottie Elf." she said to Legolas as she turned to lead them down the stairs.

"I must ask you, young master Aaron, when she calls me "hot Elf" as she so crudely put it, is that good or bad?"

Aaron hesitated for a minute before answering.

"That really depends on your definition of the word. In this dimension, most guys would consider it a good thing. But…in your case, Legolas……I'd be very afraid if I were you."

Legolas gulped nervously as he followed the others down the stairs.

XxX


	2. Of Pizza and Snogging

(A/N) Mayrana, thanks for being my first reviewer. Ah yes, Legolas should be very afraid. BWAHAHAHA! Oh, sorry about that. Just kinda lost control for a minute. Anyway, moving on. The fellowship gets to try pizza for the first time. Oooooh, aaaah, special. Idril Falastari, thank you much for your review. POTCobsessor, thanks for reviewing.

**_The Fellowship Meets Reality_**

**_Chapter 2: Of Pizza and Snogging_**

Atalanta was drawn away from the mirror by the smell of smoke and the sudden sound of the smoke alarm going off.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" she shouted as she raced down the stairs into the kitchen. Almost immediately she backed out because smoke was billowing up from a pot on the stove.

"What do you people think you're doing! I already ordered the pizza! We don't need to make anything else!" 

"Well, Sam was wondering how we cooked things without an open fireplace so I showed him the stove and the oven. He didn't really get it so I said he could try working with themHe said he wanted to try making some stew so I helped him find the ingredients he needed and watched him work. I think you see the result." Caly explained."And why, pray tell, did you let him? You knew he'd screw it up.""Now wait just a minute!" Sam cried in outrage as he jumped up from his hiding place behind the island in the centerof the kitchen. "I can cook just as well as the next Hobbit. Where do you think Mr. Frodo would be if I couldn't cook for him?"

"I didn't say you couldn't cook. But you've never worked with electricity before. You might have set the house on fire." Atalanta explained angrily.

"I just thought it would be interesting to see what he made of it. I didn't think-"

"No, you didn't. Maybe I should just stay home." Atalanta said with a sigh.

"You can't do that! The pizza is already ordered and your friends will be here any second. Just go. I won't do it again, I promise."

At that moment the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Atalanta's friends.

"All right fine. I'll go. But no more episodes like this one." then she turned to give Caly the money for the pizza.

"What are those? Leafy greens? Can I use them to cook with?" Sam asked.

"No. It's money……for the pizza." Atalanta said. She cast one final scared look in the Hobbit's direction as she made her way to the door.

"Don't let him cook the money. And see if you can get them into some normal clothes." Atalanta instructed her sister as she opened the door and stepped outside to meet Mila.

"It's ok. You don't have to worry about a thing." Caly said as she closed the door behind Atalanta.

Just as soon as she heard the sound of the car driving out of the neighborhood, Caly turned from the door and walked into the living room.

"Oooooooooook, wardrobe." she said as she walked over to the T.V. set and switched it off.

"Hey! What did you do that for! I was gonna show them the game!" Aaron cried in outrage.

"Not until we get them into some regular clothes, you're not." Caly said.

"Any suggestions?" Aaron asked as he stood up to join his sister in evaluating their new charges.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the Hobbits and the Dwarf could fit into some of your clothes. But I'm not about to go routing through Dad's closet." she answered.

"You're gonna have to. Because I'm not letting you in my closet. I'll dress the shorter five. You take the other four." Aaron said as he led the said five up to his bedroom.

"All right. You four, with me!" Caly ordered the remaining members of the fellowship.

As she led them upstairs to her parents' room, Legolas spoke to Aragorn behind her back.

"Aragorn, do you think she knows who we are?"

"Well, her sister seems to know us. And this Caly seems to know you." he whispered back.

"But do you think she knows what we are?"

"I'm not certain."

"If she does, then what right does she have to order us around like she does?"

"Legolas, I wouldn't speak that way if I were you. We have no idea what sort of dimension this is. For all we know this girl could have great power here. For now we should keep our silence and learn what we can."

Despite their best efforts to keep their voices low Caly heard every whispered word. She smirked to herself. If Aragorn could get the other eight to think like that then she could really have some fun with these guys.

"No talking in the ranks!" she shouted at them as they came to a stop before her parents closet doors.

"Now, lets see what we can find for you guys." she said as she pulled the double doors wide open and stepped inside.

Caly immediately made her way to her dad's end of the closet and searched through his casual outfits. As she pulled out certain pieces of clothing a devious smile made its way onto her face. She beckoned the other four to come into the closet and she divvyed out the clothes. To Gandalf she gave a pair of khaki shorts and a Hawaiian print shirt. She gave Boromir a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt advertising some kind of beer. Aragorn received a tie-dyed t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Then she gave Legolas a pair of jeans and a superbowl t-shirt.

"Uh……do you mind?" Legolas asked Caly before he started to change.

"No." she replied, completely oblivious to what he was really asking her.

But she eventually figured it out.

"Oh……oh, right. Sorry." she stuttered as she made her way out of the closet and shut the door behind her.

But jut as Legolas was pulling off his tunic and undershirt Caly stuck her head in one last time.

"Bye."

Before the Elf could even yelp in shock, she was gone.

"Aragorn?"

"Yes?"

"That girl scares me."

XxX

Ten minutes later Caly lead the foursome back down to the living room. Aaron had beaten them there. When she saw the other five she could barely hide her giggles. All of them were dressed in blue jeans and t-shirts, but the logos on the shirts were the funny parts.

When she looked in Frodo's direction, Gollum glared back at her from the t-shirt. The word "Presciousssssss" was monogrammed across the top. Sam wore a Harry Potter t-shirt with Dobby on it. Merry had Yu-Gi-Oh on his t-shirt. The saying "Believe in the heart of the cards!" was emblazoned across the bottom. Pippin was wearing a Spongebob t-shirt with the words "I'm ready! I'm ready!" right through the middle of it. And Gimli was wearing a Hercules t-shirt with the words "Zero to hero" written across it.

By now Caly was practically rolling on the floor.

"That's rich, Aaron! I love it! I especially love the Dwarf's shirt!"

"Hey! "The Dwarf" has a name!" Gimli shouted indignantly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Dwar- I mean- Gimli. Sorry."

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that's gotta be the pizza." Aaron said excitedly as he raced to the door.

"This oughta be interesting." Caly said softly as she joined her brother to pay for their dinner.

XxX

"All right, what's the seating arrangement?" Mila wondered out loud as the group of seven entered the movie theatre.

Monica, the girl who had organized the little get together, pushed her way to the front of the group. She shoved Atalanta away and stood next to Kyle.

"Hey, Kyle, wanna sit with me?" she asked him, batting her eyelashes in a sickeningly flirtatious display.

Kyle hesitated for a moment. He had already promised to sit with Atalanta.

"Well, I'm already sitting with Atalanta, but you can sit with us if you want." he answered.

"Okay, fine." she replied with a small groan.

Atalanta herself groaned inwardly. It was well known that Monica wanted Kyle for herself. Atalanta never declared her feelings so openly but from the beginning Monica had seen her as an obstacle to winning Kyle's affections. And if Atalanta knew anything about this snob of a girl, it was that Monica would be draped over Kyle for the rest of the night and she wouldn't be able to get a word in inch ways. But there wasn't much to be done about it.

So Atalanta sat down at the end of an isle close to the back of the theatre. Kyle came and sat next to her and Monica came and sat next to Kyle.

"Oh, these Lord of the Rings movies are so scary. Those monster guys are so freaky." Monica said in an overly childish voice.

"They're called orcs, Monica." Atalanta said with an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, that's nice. But I don't know if I'll be able to sit through it. Would you hold my hand Kyle?" she asked coyly.

"Oh, brother." Atalanta muttered to herself as Kyle stared nervously down at Monica.

"Well, this will be an interesting night." Mila remarked as she sat down next to Monica with Meredith, Logan, and Cale. Meredith was another friend of Atalanta and Mila. Cale was her boyfriend. Monica had only invited Meredith because Cale, who was her brother, insisted. Logan had come along because he was Mila's brother and he was driver for the evening.

For now, all Atalanta could do was try and ignore Monica's sick attempt at flirting and enjoy the movie.

She leaned back in the chair and gave her full attention to the screen as the first haunting chords of the LOTR theme played out into the auditorium.

XxX

"Thank you." Caly called out to the pizza guy as he walked back to his car. Then she shut the door and turned to carry the pizza boxes into the kitchen. All nine of the Middle-Earthers were gathered there along with Aaron, anxiously awaiting the pizza.

Caly set the two large boxes down on the table and opened them both. Her favorite kind of pizza greeted her sight. It was the large thin crust kind, light on the sauce. Soaked in grease with the pepperoni baked underneath the cheese. She breathed in the wonderful scent and sighed deeply. It was so beautiful.

"Um…Earth to Calypsa. Hello in there! Some of us would like some pizza over here. Can we get with the program!" Aaron snapped at her.

"Oh yeah, sorry." Caly said as she passed paper plates to everyone.

"What are these?" Sam asked as he examined the paper plates.

"Uh…paper plates. You know?"

"What! Plates aren't supposed to be made out of paper. Don't you at least have some decent crockery?"

"Yes, but we don't use that unless there's a dinner party or something. For now we use the disposable ones." she explained.

Sam just grumbled as she put a slice of pizza on his plate.

"So, remind me again, what is this?" Aragorn asked Caly.

"It's pizza. Basically it's tomato sauce, bread dough, cheese, and pepperoni all baked together and smothered in grease. It's good, just eat it."

"What's pepperoni?" Boromir asked apprehensively as he lifted his slice from the plate and watched as the grease dripped off of it and onto his hand.

"It's a type of sausage."

"What's grease?" Merry asked.

"GREASE IS GOOD! EAT!" Caly burst out through a mouthful of pizza.

Legolas reached for one of the napkins on the table to wipe away some of the grease but Caly saw his movement.

"HEY! ELF! No wipe the grease off! You don't wipe grease off of good pizza! No matter how much there is!"

Legolas gulped nervously, about to crack under the girls gaze as he lifted the pizza to his mouth. He closed his eyes tightly as he took the first bite. They remained closed as he savored the amazing taste. There was simply no word for it.

"Incredible! I've never tasted anything like it! Nothing in Middle Earth could possibly compare to it! This pizza should be illegal! It's so wonderful! I must have more!" Having said so, Legolas proceeded to cram the slice into his mouth and practically dove into the box for more.

"Well if the Elf likes it, that's good enough for me." Pippin said as he dove for the box after Legolas.

Within ten minutes both boxes of pizza had been devoured and the Hobbits were hopping around the room like crazy, begging for more.

"Can we have it again tomorrow?" Pippin begged.

"Sam could never cook anything this good!" Merry joined in.

"Hey!"

"No offense meant."

"None taken. I think I'd have to agree with you on that." Sam replied sheepishly.

"Well, now that all the pizza's gone, lets play my Two Towers video game." Aaron suggested.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Caly began as she looked over the fellowship, grease-stained faces and all. "Just look how they reacted to the pizza. It'll take forever to wash the sauce out of those shirts."

"Ah man, who asked you anyway. You said we could play the game after we got these guys dressed. Now they are and we've had dinner so lets play it!" Aaron demanded.

"All right, learn it the hard way." Caly sighed as she plopped down on the couch beside her brother.

When Aaron switched the T.V. on and the game consol began to light up, Gandalf began to ask questions.

"What matter of sorcery is this black box? I have never seen it's like."

"That's probably because you don't have electricity in Middle Earth. Just watch, you'll like this." Aaron said as everyone in the room began to sit down on various pieces of furniture. Just then the game started. The theme for Mordor blared through the surround sound system and the fellowship jumped at the sound of it. Then a game version of Saruman appeared onscreen and began to speak.

"The world is changing. Who now has the strength to stand against the armies of Isengard……and Mordor." he said in a very sinister voice.

Instantly, Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, and Gandalf jumped to their feet. Legolas swiftly drew his bow and fitted an arrow to it. Aragorn and Boromir drew their swords, Gimli hefted his battle Ax and gave a sort of war cry, and Gandalf raised his staff. All of their weapons were aimed at the T.V. screen.

"Uh…guys, what are you doing?" Caly asked them nervously.

"We must silence him or he may try to put a spell on us." Aragorn whispered as he raised Anduril threateningly towards the television.

"Guys?" Aaron said even more nervously than Caly.

"Gimli, Boromir. Take the Hobbits and the young ones to safety. We will follow in a few moments." Gandalf whispered to the said two.

The Hobbits were just getting to their feet to follow Boromir and Gimli out of the room, when all of the power in the house shorted out.

"Oh, great. This had to happen now didn't it?" Caly said.

"Not so loud, Caly. He might hear you." Aragorn said.

"Who?" Caly asked indignantly.

"Saruman. This is his doing." Gandalf explained.

"Oh, boy. Guys, it's just a black out. They happen all the time." Aaron tried to explain.

"No, you don't understand. The White Wizard has powers beyond your comprehension." Legolas whispered.

"I think it's you who doesn't understand." Aaron tried to say.

"Boromir, Gimli, get them out of here. We will take care of this." Aragorn said softly.

"You just had to play the video game didn't you!" Caly shouted furiously at Aaron as the man and the Dwarf dragged them out of the living room.

XxX

Atalanta sighed deeply. The movie was nearing it's end. Aragorn had just been crowned King of Arnor and Gondor. He was now being approached by the Elves. As he stepped towards them, they parted to reveal Arwen. Aragorn came to her and they shared a passionate kiss. Atalanta sighed again. It was all so romantic.

Slowly her eyes drifted over to Kyle, only to discover that he was looking at her too. His expression was nearly unreadable in the darkness of the movie theatre but even she could see that he was leaning closer to her. And, almost involuntarily, she was leaning towards him. There faces were mere inches apart now. She could feel his breath on her face.

Suddenly Kyle was jerked back to his seat by Monica. She clamped her hand down his arm and leaned into him.

"Oh, Kyle, isn't it so romantic." she cooed.

"Oh my God, this is pathetic." Atalanta said to herself. They had been so close, too.

She continued to mentally kick herself until she realized that the movie was over and "Into the West" was now playing.

"Atalanta, are you coming?" Mila asked her impatiently as the other five filed out of the theatre.

"Oh, yeah, sure." she said half-heartedly.

"All right, what happened?" Mila asked as they followed the others.

"That Monica! We were so close!"

"What do you mean?"

"He was about to kiss me, I know it! Then she had to go and pull him back!"

"Oh, I get it. Well at least we know that he likes you and not Monica."

"How does that prove anything? It could have been the heat of the moment. It was during a kissing scene, after all. Besides, Monica seems to have a way of getting what she wants. No matter what it takes." Atalanta said ominously.

"Stop being so paranoid. You'll get him eventually." Mila reassured her as they joined the others at Logan's car. The other six would be going out to dinner but Atalanta had to go home early to watch her siblings. She had promised her parents and she knew that she would have issues with her guilty conscious if she stayed out late.

As they finally pulled up to Atalanta's house, Mila whispered to her, "Don't worry. I'll make sure Monica stays away from Kyle."

Atalanta climbed out of the car and looked at her house. All of the lights were out. Either they were playing hide and seek or there had been a blackout while she was gone.

As Logan drove off, Atalanta continued to yell at herself.

"Damn! Damn! How am I supposed to compete with that bitch, Monica! She's such a- " Atalanta continued to swear loudly as she made her way to the front door.

When she opened it she found herself staring down the shaft of an arrow straight into Legolas's face.

"What the Hell!" she shouted.

"Keep your mouth shut, or I shall shoot you right between the eyes."

"What do you think you're doing! It's me! Atalanta!"

"Maybe you are and maybe you are not. You might be Saruman in disguise." he hissed in her face.

"Saruman? What are you talk-" Atalanta stopped mid sentence.

"What-did-you-do?" she whispered furiously to the empty air behind Legolas's back.

"It was an accident." came the squeak of her little brother from somewhere down the darkened hallway.

XxX


	3. Bouncing Like a Possessed Muffin

(A/N) Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't updated in like, a year. But I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do with this story. But now it's summer break yet again and I have time on my hands. My creative juices have not deserted me and I know exactly what I want to do. Hope you enjoy.

****

The Fellowship Meets Reality

Chapter 3: Bouncing Like a Possessed Muffin

"But why can't we take them outside?" Aaron whined pitifully.

"You heard Atalanta. They can't be seen," Caly answered as she flipped the last of the pancakes up from the skillet and onto her giant mountain of pancakes. Apart from Cereal, pancakes were the only things Caly could make that actually tasted good. So she had made her siblings and their new guests a giant stack of them. Atalanta still wasn't awake after last night's episode so Caly decided to let her sleep and eat her chocolate chip pancakes later. Atalanta had had quite a time of it. It had taken some convincing for Legolas to believe that Atalanta wasn't Saruman in disguise. But when he finally did Atalanta forced the other members of the fellowship to come out of hiding. The power hadn't come back on for at least another hour and when it did Atalanta had a long talk with the Middle-Earthers about Saruman and weapons in the house. She had forced them all to hand their weapons over after managing to convince them that there were definitely no evil wizards on Earth. The fellowship had all somehow managed to squeeze into Aaron's room and that was where they slept. Now Aaron was begging Caly to let him take the Hobbits out back to jump on the trampoline but she stood fast. Even though bouncing Hobbits would be funny as hell to watch, Caly was starting to see what Atalanta had seen from the beginning. These nine may well be dangerous to their health.

"But who's going to see them in our backyard?"

"You never know."

"I don't care! I'm taking them out anyway!"

"Don't you even think-" Caly began angrily. But she was interrupted by the arrival of Atalanta, still dressed in the pair of shorts and the t-shirt she'd slept in.

"Can't you two just- PANCAKES!" Atalanta burst out when she saw the stack of chocolate chip pancakes sitting on the kitchen table. Boromir and Gimli pulled aside just in time to keep from being hit as Atalanta launched herself into the plate of pancakes.

"Uh…Atalanta? Don't you want a fork?" Caly asked nervously as she watched bits of pancake fly every which way.

"What for?" Atalanta tried to say through a mouthful of pancake.

Caly just shrugged in amusement as she slathered butter over her own stack of pancakes. Apparently age really _didn't_ have anything to do with behavior.

"So, um…Atalanta…do we have any plans for today?" Aaron asked.

Atalanta shook her head as she downed the last of her pancakes and took a big slug of water from the glass sitting by her elbow. Merry tried to tell her that the water was his but she just glared at him in response.

"Not really. I have some plans for the Elf and the Dwarf but apart from that you guys can do what you want."

"Ok then. Can I take the Hobbits out back to jump on the trampoline?"

Atalanta regarded him with skepticism for a moment, running through last night's events in her head. But she finally nodded her consent.

"Sure. You can take them out back. But not anywhere else."

Caly stared at her older sister, shocked.

"Atalanta! What are you saying! What happened to the they can't be seen policy?"

"Our backyard's not dangerous, Caly. The Smiths are out of town this summer and Lloyd and Shortie aren't going to bother them if you're not out there. And you'll be helping me."

"Helping you with what?"

"You'll find out soon enough. But yeah, Aaron, have a ball. Just so long as you don't start a nuclear war back there I'm fine with it."

Without wasting another word Aaron pulled the four Hobbits up from the table. Sam managed to grab one last pancake before he rushed them out the back door. Aragorn, Boromir, and Gandalf just stood staring for a moment.

"And what are we to do while they are outside, my lady?" Aragorn asked.

"Ok, first off, don't call me lady. It ticks me off. Second, Gandalf, come here."

Gandalf approached Atalanta without protest. But he was soon protesting when she went around behind him and yanked his head down by the hair.

"What are you doing!"

"Pulling your hair back," Atalanta answered tersely as she pulled her hair tie off of her wrist and pulled Gandalf's unruly gray hair into a ponytail. "It's not too weird for an old guy like you to have long hair so long as you keep it pulled back."

Once she was finished with him, Atalanta shooed the three outside after Aaron and the Hobbits. Once they were gone she turned her gaze on Legolas and Gimli.

"All right, Caly?" Atalanta began to ask as she led the three down the hallway back towards her mom's sewing room, or, project room as they called it. "Where does Mom keep the scissors?"

"In the top drawer of the desk in the project room. They're- WAIT A MINUTE! YOU'RE NOT GONNA DO WHAT I _THINK_ YOU'RE GONNA DO ARE YOU!" Caly asked furiously.

"Of course I am," Atalanta answered matter-of-factly. "They can't go around with those wild manes."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Legolas asked nervously.

"You'll find out," Atalanta answered as she shoved the two into the project room along with her sister. Then she entered and locked the door behind her. "Caly?"

"Yeah?"

"Go over to the closet and get what's on top of the thread draw."

Caly quickly ran to the closet and opened it, apprehensive about what Atalanta was about to do, but interested all the same. She reached in and came up with a bundle of curtain cords from her Mom's last big project.

"Rope?"

"Exactly. Rope them down," Atalanta ordered.

A sadistic smile spread over Caly's face as she caught on. Before Legolas could protest, she was on him, shoving him down into a chair and tying him to it.

"Make it as tight as you like," Atalanta said casually.

At seeing what they were doing to his companion, Gimli quickly ran to the door and tried to unlock it. But he was unfamiliar with the lock and finally reverted to pounding on the door and calling for help. But since the others were outside this was of no help and he wasn't much good at breaking out without his axe. Once Legolas was securely fastened into the chair, Caly turned her attention to the struggling Dwarf. It didn't take much for her to drag the midget back to another chair and tie him down.

"Now," Atalanta began as she reached into the drawer and came out with a pair of sharpened scissors. "For the fun part."

Both of the Middle-Earthers stared at the psychotic human, each gulping nervously.

XxX

"What is it?" Aragorn asked apprehensively. "It has the feel of something evil."

The rest of the companions seemed to agree with him, as he was the only one brave enough to come the closest to it, which in this case, was about five feet away from the thing itself. Everyone else sort of cowered behind him and stared at the device. Maybe it was a trap!

"Dudes, it's just a trampoline," Aaron said condescendingly. Afraid of a trampoline? They were like frickin' babies for crying out loud!

"And how is it supposed to be 'fun'?" Boromir asked suspiciously.

"Like such," Aaron began, approaching the trampoline and climbing onto it. He sat in the middle for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. But suddenly he leapt up and shot into the air, rocketed by the force of his sudden bounce.

The Fellowship stared in awe as Aaron continued to rocket into the air again and again. Being unfamiliar with the mystical science of trampoline construction, they were all convinced that Aaron was some kind of powerful sorcerer.

"How is this done?" Gandalf asked.

"Here, I'll show you," Aaron said. He extended his hand down to Merry. The Hobbit stared at the hand for a moment, uncertain of what to do. But he finally decided that it was worth the risk. It actually looked sort of fun.

"What do I do?" he asked once he had finally managed to keep his balance on the constantly shifting surface.

"Since you've never done this before I'll just bounce you for a little bit, ok?"

Merry nodded…but soon regretted it. Aaron worked up another powerful bounce, jumped into the air and landed hard beside Merry. The force of the bounce sent the poor Hobbit flying into the air. For a moment, it seemed to him that he was indeed flying. But he soon came crashing back down and Aaron sent him rocketing back up. With the sudden changes in altitude, Merry felt like he was about to loose what little breakfast he had gotten down that morning.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME _PLEASE_!" he screamed in terror as the wild ride continued. But Aaron was enjoying himself and had no intention of stopping.

After a good ten minutes of hard bouncing, Aaron allowed Merry to collapse on the trampoline, breathing hard and staring up at the sky.

The three other Hobbits approached the trampoline with extreme caution.

"Merry?" Pippin asked hesitantly. "Are you ok?"

At first, Merry didn't seem to realize that someone was talking to him. But after a few more minutes of staring blankly up at the sky, he turned his face over to his friends.

"That was actually…kind of fun."

"Really?" Sam asked, clearly surprised.

"Could…could I have a go?" Pippin asked.

"Sure. Come on up."

Pippin eagerly grabbed hold of the railing and pulled himself up onto the trampoline. Sam stared after him for a moment and then clambered up himself. Both Hobbits helped Merry to his feet. Frodo tried to go and join his kin, but Aragorn held him back.

"Wait, Frodo. I don't entirely trust this thing. Let us see what happens."

"Prepare yourselves, adventurers," Aaron said in a deep voice, imitating a dark master of some video game. "For the likes of a game which you've never played."

XxX

"Hey, Atalanta? Do you think I could keep his hair?" Caly asked.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Atalanta asked apprehensively.

"Because it's _Legolas's_ hair!"

"Whatev."

"H-how could you? What have you done to my hair?" Legolas asked, a look of shock plastered onto his face as he stared at his hacked-off tresses scattered all over the floor.

"It had to be done. Especially if you don't want to be mauled by a horde of fan girls. We've gotta take you guys outside someday."

"I demand you return my hair to its rightful place!"

"Sorry. No can do. We're not witches," Caly answered as she blissfully went around the room, gathering the strands of blond Elf hair.

"But I can't go around like this," Legolas said irately, shaking his head for emphasis. "It looks like a Dwarf took an axe to my hair."

"I resent that!" Gimli said angrily.

"Hey! I didn't do that bad!" Atalanta protested as she went to untie his hands. "You look marginally normal now. All we've got to do is hide those ears of yours and you'll be fine."

Once he was free of the chair Legolas jumped up and went to look at his face in the mirror mounted up on the desk of drawers. He did have to admit that it could have turned out much worse. His hair stopped just above his neck but it was at least mostly even. But he shuddered to see his reflection just the same.

_What would they say back home if they could see me now?_

"All right then. Now it's the Dwarf's turn."

Before Gimli could even shout Atalanta had his mob of wild brown hair in her hands and was starting to hack through it with the scissors.

"Aaaaargh! Let go of me!"

"Sorry," Atalanta grunted as she continued to saw at the mane. "Gotta do it."

Once she had gotten through the main body of the tangle she cut away small bits of it until his hair was mostly even. Even with the little hair that remained it would be near impossible to get a brush through it. Oh well.

Then Atalanta moved around to the front and Gimli realized what she was going to do.

"NO! NOT THE BEARD! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

"You know, somehow I just don't care," Atalanta said casually as she grabbed a hold of the beard and started hacking away at it.

"No!" Gimli shouted as he continued to struggle, trying to wrestle his beard out of Atalanta's clutches.

"Gimli!" she shouted, using his name for once as she yanked his head forward to look him directly in the eye. "Stop wiggling. Do you want me to poke a _hole_ in your face!"

Gimli just bowed his head forward in shame, his body going totally slack as Atalanta finished with the cutting.

"Caly, please throw all this hair out. I think his hair still has leaves in it."

XxX

"Hey, Atalanta! What took you guys so long!" Aaron shouted to Atalanta from high up in the air. Aragorn had finally let Frodo get on the trampoline and all four Hobbits were bouncing around like possessed muffins. But none of them could match Aaron's skill in trampolines.

"Sorry. It took longer than I expected."

"What did?"

"Caly!" Atalanta called out. Their sister immediately came out from behind the row of bushes that hid the family pool from sight, leading a reluctant Legolas behind her.

"Legolas? Is that you?" Aragorn asked, taking in the Elf's newly shortened hair.

The Elf Prince just grumbled in response.

"Eh! Gimli! Get out here!"

"No!" a voice came out from behind the bushes. "I won't do it!"

"Gimli," Atalanta said condescendingly. "What did we talk about?"

"I don't take orders from you!"

"Oh well. I suppose I'll just have to throw the axe away then."

"No! A-all right, fine!"

With that, Gimli came shuffling out from behind the bushes. Only he had his shirt pulled up so that it hid his head from sight and left his huge belly in full view, swinging back and forth.

"Dude, put that away," Caly said, her voice full of disgust. "There are kids around here."

Gimli obliged, however unwillingly, and revealed his nearly shaved head. Shaved at least, in comparison to what it was before.

"Umm…Atalanta? Who is that?" Pippin asked nervously.

Gimli glared up at the Hobbits. None of them recognized him without his masses of hair.

"It's ME, fool! It's Gimli!"

"Oooooh, sorry about that."

Gimli just snarled and hunched his shoulders up around his neck.

"Get used to it, Dwarf. You're gonna be here for awhile. Aaron, mind if I have a go with the Hobbits?" Atalanta asked.

"They're all yours," Aaron said, climbing down from the trampoline and letting Atalanta on.

"Can you bounce us as high as Aaron does? I don't think anyone could top that," Sam said.

As the four Hobbits stared expectantly, Atalanta let out a sadistic laugh.

"Aaron is nothing compared to me! You Hobbits have no idea what you're in for!"

Aragorn made a move towards Atalanta as she spoke those threatening words but Caly stopped him. This would be interesting to watch.

"Aaron?" Legolas asked the boy "Your sister did that same laugh when she was cutting my hair. She's always doing it. Is there something wrong with her?"

"Oh no. That's completely normal for her. She's sort of crazy like that."

XxX

Isengard had once been one of the most beautiful places in all of Middle-Earth. Now it was a scarred and barren place. Its beautiful groves of trees had all been ripped out and dragged away to make machines of war. Huge caverns had been dug into the land to make room for the industries of war…room for foul workings of breeding and dark magic.

The wizard responsible for this terrible rape of the land was currently at the top of the tower of Orthanc; the only thing that remained of Isengard. An impenetrable black tower built millennia ago by the followers of Isildur. Saruman the White cared nothing for the life he had destroyed. His mind had long ago been consumed by a lust for power. Power that he had hoped to gain by throwing in his lot with Sauron. And now all of his thoughts were focused on finding the nine that would stand against them.

"Where are you, Gandalf?" he hissed to himself as he paced back and forth across his chamber. He had tried all of his arts, all the power that he possessed, and it was not enough. He had lost track of the Fellowship somewhere in Moria. They had not met with the Balrog of Morgoth…of that he was certain. But the fact was that they had simply vanished. Gone completely beyond the reach of all of his senses.

"Perhaps another look in the Palantir," he whispered, though Saruman was fairly certain that he would not find anything. He had looked before and found no trace of them.

But now, as he gazed into the swirling depths of the seeing stone, a new vision came to him. He saw two girls and a boy, all dressed in extremely outlandish clothing. But what surprised him was that he recognized the weapons that the young ones carried.

The boy was holding Gandalf's staff aloft over his head. The elder girl held an Elvin bow in her hands and wore a quiver of arrows on her back. The younger girl was holding the hilt of a very familiar-looking sword in her hands.

"Anduril? What is this?"

But before Saruman could think on the matter further, a blinding white light poured forth from the center of the stone and it began to crack. As the stone split open the light engulfed the room and the wizard was pulled helplessly towards the vortex created by the breaking Palantir.

XxX


End file.
